« | Ruth 3 | » |
1 Then Naomi her mother in lawe sayde vnto her: My daughter, shal I not seke rest for thee, yt thou mayest prosper?
2 And is not Booz our kinsman, with whose maydens thou wast? Beholde, he winnoweth barlie to night in the thresshing floore.
3 Wasshe thy selfe therfore, and annoynt thee, and put thy rayment vpon thee, & get thee downe to the floore: but let not the man knoweof thee, vntill he haue left eating and drincking.
4 And when he goeth to sleepe, marke the place where he layeth him downe, and then go and lyft vp the clothes that are on his feete, & lay thee downe there: and he shall tel thee what thou shalt do.
5 And she aunswered her: All that thou biddest me, I will do.
6 And she went downe vnto the floore, and dyd according to al that her mother in lawe bad her.
7 And when Booz had eaten and drunken, & cheared his heart, he went to lye downe at the ende of the heape of corne: and she came softly, and lift vp the clothes of his feete, and layed her downe.
8 And at midnight, the man was afraide, and caught holde: and beholde, a woman lay at his feete.
9 And he sayde: What art thou? She aunswered, I am Ruth thyne handmayde: Spreade the wing of thy [garment] ouer thyne handmayde, for thou art the kinsman.
10 He sayde: Blessed be thou in the Lord my daughter, for thou hast shewed more goodnesse in the latter ende, then at the beginning, inasmuche as thou folowedst not young men, whether they were poore or riche.
11 And nowe my daughter feare not, I will do to the all that thou requirest: for all the citie of my people doth know, that thou art a woman of vertue.
12 And it is true that I am of thy next kinne, howbeit there is one nier then I.
13 Tary this night, and when morning is come, if he wil perfourme the part of a kinsman vnto thee, it is good, let him do the kinsmans part: but if he wyl not do the kinsmans part, then wyl I do the duetie of a kinsman, as the Lorde liueth: sleepe vntil the morning.
14 And she lay at his feete vntill the morning: and she arose vp before one coulde knowe another. And he sayde: Let no man knowe that there came any woman into the floore.
15 And he sayde againe: Bring the mantel that thou hast vpon thee, & holde it. And when she held it, he mette in sixe measures of barlye, and layde it on her: And she gat her into the citie.
16 And when she came in, to her mother in lawe, she sayde: Who art thou, my daughter? And she tolde her all that the man had done to her,
17 And sayde: These sixe measures of barlye gaue he me, and sayde: Thou shalt not come emptie vnto thy mother in lawe.
18 Then sayde she: My daughter, sit still vntil thou knowe howe the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, vntill he haue finished the thing this same day.
The Bishop’s Bible (BB)
The Bishop’s Bible (BB) is a significant English translation of the Bible that was first published in 1568 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It was commissioned by the Church of England as a revision of the Great Bible and as a response to the Geneva Bible, which was popular among the Puritans but contained marginal notes that were considered politically and theologically contentious by the Anglican establishment. The primary goal of the Bishop’ s Bible was to create a translation that would be more acceptable to the ecclesiastical authorities and suitable for use in Anglican churches.
One of the distinguishing features of the Bishop’s Bible is its effort to maintain a high level of accuracy and scholarly integrity while also ensuring that the language used was dignified and appropriate for public reading. The translation was undertaken by a team of bishops and other scholars, hence its name. The translators aimed to preserve the poetic and literary qualities of the original texts, drawing on previous translations such as the Tyndale Bible, the Coverdale Bible, and the Great Bible, while also incorporating their scholarly insights and linguistic refinements.
The Bishop’s Bible was notable for its large, folio format, which was designed to be read from the pulpit. It included extensive marginal notes, though these were more restrained and less controversial than those found in the Geneva Bible. The translation also featured elaborate illustrations and maps, as well as a comprehensive introduction and various prefaces that provided context and guidance for readers. Despite its grandeur and scholarly merit, the Bishop’s Bible did not achieve the widespread popularity of the Geneva Bible among the general populace.
Although the Bishop’s Bible played an essential role in the religious and cultural life of Elizabethan England, it was eventually overshadowed by the King James Version (KJV), which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611. The KJV drew heavily on the Bishop’ s Bible, as well as other earlier translations, but ultimately surpassed it in both scholarly rigor and literary quality. Nonetheless, the Bishop’s Bible remains an important milestone in the history of English Bible translations, reflecting the theological and political currents of its time and contributing to the development of subsequent translations.